One Halibut per Day Rule ImplementedChange Necessary to Protect
Halibut Resource in Southeast Alaska

May 08, 2009
Friday

In a new rule released Wednesday, NOAA's Fisheries Service reduced
the number of halibut that charter vessel anglers in southeast
Alaska can keep each day from two to one to protect the halibut
stock. The rule is a response to ongoing concerns about the depletion
of the halibut resource in the area.

"While today's rule addresses
an immediate need to better manage the charter halibut fishery,
we believe the long-term solution to sustainably managing the
fishery is for the charter halibut fishery to join with the commercial
halibut fishery in a catch share program," said Doug Mecum,
acting regional administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service in
Alaska. "Catch share programs that allocate the total allowable
catch to participants in the fishery give a strong incentive
to fishermen to conserve fish stocks."

Halibut fishing along the Pacific
Coast is managed under overall limits set for each fishing area.
Sport charter halibut fishermen in Southeast Alaska have exceeded
their assigned harvest levels for several years.

"Sport charter fishing
has grown in southeast Alaska while halibut abundance has decreased,"
said Mecum. "With this rule, we are trying to reduce the
charter halibut catch to ensure that we continue to fish sustainably.
We want to work with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council
on a long-term solution for sustainable fishing by both commercial
and recreational fishing sectors."

Halibut Coalition members support
the change and say it is a necessary step to conserve a threatened
resource. "The charter industry in Southeast has been allowed
to grow unchecked for too many years," said Wrangell fisherman
Alan Reeves. "Now the one halibut bag limit is necessary
to keep them within their allotted GHL. There's only so much
resource, and so many people who can make a living off that resource.
They have to become responsible users, and that means staying
within their GHL."

The commercial longline fleet operates under strict individual
fishing quotas (IFQs). The commercial longline quota in Area
2C has been cut 53% over the past three years to protect halibut
stocks from overharvest. "As fishermen, we all have
times when we have to suffer to keep the stocks healthy,"
said Kevin McDougall, a Juneau commercial fisherman. "The
stocks are more important than the individual fisherman. It's
time for the charter fleet to sacrifice some for the good of
the halibut stocks, just as commercial fishermen have been sacrificing
for years."

According to information provided
by the Halibut Coalition, halibut overfishing has hurt subsistence
and non-guided sport fishermen as well. Since charter boat fishing
is concentrated near communities, the overharvest has caused
significant localized depletion of the halibut resource. This
makes it increasingly difficult for Southeast subsistence and
non-guided sport fishermen to catch fish.

As part of the new rule, effective June 5, a halibut sport charter
vessel angler in southeast Alaska may use only one fishing line,
and no more than a total of six lines are allowed on a charter
vessel fishing for halibut. Further, charter operators, guides
and crew are prohibited from catching and retaining halibut during
a charter fishing trip.

Managers put a similar rule
in place last spring, but sport charter halibut operators challenged
it on procedural grounds and the agency withdrew the rule.